From the webmistress:
Unforseen circumstances...
Saying farewell is never easy, and I know in David and Helen's case it is with regret that they have to leave behind friends, the 'cut' and countryside walks they have come to love so much.
I in turn will miss David's spectacular photography of those walks!
I will leave the blog up for those of you who want to review where they have been and what they have done in this remarkable two year adventure of the NarrowBoat Elizabether Rose II aka CheeseBoat II. She is now in brokerage and awaiting another owner who will love her as much as these two did.
David and Helen are scheduled to touch down on our side of the world in November, plenty of time to get their bearings before spending Christmas with their daughters and husbands.
Safe Travels you two, Bless the Road that Carries You.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Current Edition: Summertime! and the Selling is Cheesy...
Note to faithful readers: sorry couldn't resist the pun but I had to Say Something as these UK cheeky blighters have been having a great Summer and we are still at least a month behind temp and garden wise! (not fair, I am posting my complaint to the met as we speak)
*** Update to the Where are They Now:
We will be at the Samuel Barlow pub in Alvecote (B78 1AS for you landlubbers) from July 8th through July 10th, attending the traditional Boaters' Gathering on Friday and Saturday and the Summer Fair on Sunday. There will be fundraising stalls from tombolas to welly wanging, unique gift and craft stalls, trading boats, open historic working boats to view, vintage motorcycles, tricycles, face painter and glitter tattooist. Ryknild Rabble Morris Dancers will be performing, there will also be childrens rides, free boat trips, and More! We will have all our yummy cheeses onboard plus a nice selection of the delicious chutneys we carry - see you there!
***
And the Current List of Places to Catch Them On The Cut: (subject to change of course)
David as usual has some wonderful pics posted on ye old F/B so here are the links:
Enjoy!
and Doncha wish you were there, cruising along with them?
I DO!
Let's take a gander at his Phantastic Photos:
The Lake District
Spring 2011
Cheese Boat 2
Anderton - 'aw' pictures of Swan and cygnets
Audlem Music Festival : May 2011
11 Days on the BCN : Birmingham UK
Blessings of a Bountiful Summer!
*** Update to the Where are They Now:
We will be at the Samuel Barlow pub in Alvecote (B78 1AS for you landlubbers) from July 8th through July 10th, attending the traditional Boaters' Gathering on Friday and Saturday and the Summer Fair on Sunday. There will be fundraising stalls from tombolas to welly wanging, unique gift and craft stalls, trading boats, open historic working boats to view, vintage motorcycles, tricycles, face painter and glitter tattooist. Ryknild Rabble Morris Dancers will be performing, there will also be childrens rides, free boat trips, and More! We will have all our yummy cheeses onboard plus a nice selection of the delicious chutneys we carry - see you there!
***
And the Current List of Places to Catch Them On The Cut: (subject to change of course)
CHEESE BOAT 2
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David as usual has some wonderful pics posted on ye old F/B so here are the links:
Enjoy!
and Doncha wish you were there, cruising along with them?
I DO!
Let's take a gander at his Phantastic Photos:
The Lake District
Spring 2011
Cheese Boat 2
Anderton - 'aw' pictures of Swan and cygnets
Audlem Music Festival : May 2011
11 Days on the BCN : Birmingham UK
Blessings of a Bountiful Summer!
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Current Edition: March 2011: ER II Thawed Out! Heading Into Her 7 Months of Cruising!
From the March 13 2011 Email
Note to Faithful Readers: kindly click on highlighted links to view David's incredible photos - thanks.
Well, it has been quite some time since we sent out an update on our
lives here in the UK - it has been a very, busy few months - all the
little jobs on the boat we thought we would get to... not yet done,
arghhh...
But, we start our cruising season in just over a week - will be out for
7 months, cannot wait!!
So, what have we been up to..
December was busy, as the Christmas season usually is - we had a quite a
few Christmas fairs to attend, definitely different in a venue as
opposed to selling from the boat - but December is not the time of year
to be heading out on a boat, especially as the canals were frozen from
Nov. 26th for over 7 weeks! But, ERII was safe and warm, plugged in at
the marina.
After Christmas, we had a lovely Boxing Day with our
friends from Cheese Boat 1 then back for a couple of days before heading
to my family in Scotland for Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) - and what a hoot
that was! My niece, Gaby, who turned 11 in January, had the time of her
life... once she could understand what everyone was saying. It's just
one party after another up there, culminating in 'first-footing' after
midnight on New Year's Eve. Upon returning home, her dad asked her if
she'd like to visit Scotland again and the reply was, "No... I want to
LIVE there!".
We did find time to do a couple of small jobs on the boat until we
headed to the Lake District with Cheesies 1 in mid-January. Had a great
time, beautiful weather (which, for those of you who know that area, is
quite unusual), lots of lovely hiking and exploring the pretty towns
like Grasmere, nice pubs - you get the drift..
We were home for a couple of days before flying to Canada to visit with
our daughters and sons-in-law and other family members - a very brief
trip (only 6 full days) and lots of visits to pack in - so, if you
didn't hear from us before you now know why.
Upon return, we picked up our tools and renovated the ugliest bathroom
we've ever seen, God's truth! Our poor clients went to one of those
flashy bathroom showrooms and got sold lots of lovely stuff that
wouldn't work in their small (not quite 6 foot by not quite 7 foot room)
bathroom - we argued to return lots of it and get them refunds, had to
make many changes but we got there in the end, although it took a full
week longer to do because of delays in products, etc.. Clients are
delighted, lovely, modern bathroom with the plumbing actually embedded
in the wall - radical over here!
So, back to the boat for a few days then we went to Dublin last week for
a couple of nights - beautiful city, very European and clean, straighter
streets, except for areas like Temple Bar. And, we had the most
gorgeous weather to top it off - bright blue skies, no wind and 11
degrees - walked miles and miles seeing the medieval and viking
quarters, Dublin Castle, of course did the Guinness tour and ended up at
the Gravity Bar on the top floor - David had his pint of Guinness and I
had a diet coke (just couldn't face a pint of it, although I did have a
Guinness burger for lunch, that counts, right?!) and took in the views,
back to the Temple Bar area - my favourite part of Dublin, hands down!
Walked around Trinity College then to the St. Stephen's Green area (tip
for those of you who want to have a drink in a real 'local' bar, not a
tourist spot - and this comes from Heather and Jamie who know their
stuff - O'Donoghue's just off the green, near the Huguenot cemetery) -
that night David had Guinness beef pie, he's topped up on Guinness for
awhile!
Flew back to Liverpool on a half-empty Ryanair flight, very rare,
usually packed like sardines on their flights - so we both took window
seats and enjoyed the views back to Blighty! Back on the boat to,
seriously, get her ready for the season - we are currently on our
'shakedown' cruise and all is going well. Have used my BBQ the last 2
nights, my favourite appliance in the whole world!
Lots of events happening over the next few months so watch this page!
* Diary 2011 for the ERII ( Or Cheesy 2)
Come buy! Some Cheeses and Chutneys if you are in the neighbourhood.
Love to all,
Helen & David
Note to Faithful Readers: kindly click on highlighted links to view David's incredible photos - thanks.
Well, it has been quite some time since we sent out an update on our
lives here in the UK - it has been a very, busy few months - all the
little jobs on the boat we thought we would get to... not yet done,
arghhh...
But, we start our cruising season in just over a week - will be out for
7 months, cannot wait!!
So, what have we been up to..
December was busy, as the Christmas season usually is - we had a quite a
few Christmas fairs to attend, definitely different in a venue as
opposed to selling from the boat - but December is not the time of year
to be heading out on a boat, especially as the canals were frozen from
Nov. 26th for over 7 weeks! But, ERII was safe and warm, plugged in at
the marina.
After Christmas, we had a lovely Boxing Day with our
friends from Cheese Boat 1 then back for a couple of days before heading
to my family in Scotland for Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) - and what a hoot
that was! My niece, Gaby, who turned 11 in January, had the time of her
life... once she could understand what everyone was saying. It's just
one party after another up there, culminating in 'first-footing' after
midnight on New Year's Eve. Upon returning home, her dad asked her if
she'd like to visit Scotland again and the reply was, "No... I want to
LIVE there!".
We did find time to do a couple of small jobs on the boat until we
headed to the Lake District with Cheesies 1 in mid-January. Had a great
time, beautiful weather (which, for those of you who know that area, is
quite unusual), lots of lovely hiking and exploring the pretty towns
like Grasmere, nice pubs - you get the drift..
We were home for a couple of days before flying to Canada to visit with
our daughters and sons-in-law and other family members - a very brief
trip (only 6 full days) and lots of visits to pack in - so, if you
didn't hear from us before you now know why.
Upon return, we picked up our tools and renovated the ugliest bathroom
we've ever seen, God's truth! Our poor clients went to one of those
flashy bathroom showrooms and got sold lots of lovely stuff that
wouldn't work in their small (not quite 6 foot by not quite 7 foot room)
bathroom - we argued to return lots of it and get them refunds, had to
make many changes but we got there in the end, although it took a full
week longer to do because of delays in products, etc.. Clients are
delighted, lovely, modern bathroom with the plumbing actually embedded
in the wall - radical over here!
So, back to the boat for a few days then we went to Dublin last week for
a couple of nights - beautiful city, very European and clean, straighter
streets, except for areas like Temple Bar. And, we had the most
gorgeous weather to top it off - bright blue skies, no wind and 11
degrees - walked miles and miles seeing the medieval and viking
quarters, Dublin Castle, of course did the Guinness tour and ended up at
the Gravity Bar on the top floor - David had his pint of Guinness and I
had a diet coke (just couldn't face a pint of it, although I did have a
Guinness burger for lunch, that counts, right?!) and took in the views,
back to the Temple Bar area - my favourite part of Dublin, hands down!
Walked around Trinity College then to the St. Stephen's Green area (tip
for those of you who want to have a drink in a real 'local' bar, not a
tourist spot - and this comes from Heather and Jamie who know their
stuff - O'Donoghue's just off the green, near the Huguenot cemetery) -
that night David had Guinness beef pie, he's topped up on Guinness for
awhile!
Flew back to Liverpool on a half-empty Ryanair flight, very rare,
usually packed like sardines on their flights - so we both took window
seats and enjoyed the views back to Blighty! Back on the boat to,
seriously, get her ready for the season - we are currently on our
'shakedown' cruise and all is going well. Have used my BBQ the last 2
nights, my favourite appliance in the whole world!
Lots of events happening over the next few months so watch this page!
* Diary 2011 for the ERII ( Or Cheesy 2)
Come buy! Some Cheeses and Chutneys if you are in the neighbourhood.
| 2011 | Mar | 25-27 | The Fox & Anchor, Coven (Featherstone), Staffs. & Worcs. canal (WV10 7PW) |
| Apr | 1-3 | Mother's Day, The Tame Otter, Hopwas, Coventry canal (B78 3AF) | |
| Apr | 8-10 | Fradley Junction, junction of Trent & Mersey and Coventry canals | |
| Apr | 15-17 | Great Haywood, Trent & Mersey canal | |
| Apr | 22-25 | Easter weekend, Fox & Anchor, Coven (Featherstone), Staffs. & Worcs. canal (WV10 7PW) | |
| Apr - May | 30 2 | Norbury May Day Rally, Norbury Junction, Shropshire Union canal | |
| May | 7-8 | Middlewich, Trent & Mersey canal (check `Where are We Now` for exact location) | |
| May | 13-15 | Anderton Boat Lift, Trent & Mersey canal | |
| May | 25-30 | Audlem Music & Arts Festival - Bank Holiday weekend, Audlem, Shropshire Union canal |
Love to all,
Helen & David
Monday, December 13, 2010
Winter Special ! Heed and Read! The ERII is getting Known!
Besides being 'iced in',
(For those on Facebook Click HERE for the Frosty Cheshire photos)
They took the time out to be interviewed by Wireless and Ink.
Helen was interviewed on BBC Shropshire Radio..woohoo..
Kindly click HERE to 'have a listen'..
(its a bit choppy in places, but delightful to hear and the Little Black Bomber cheese that is mentioned is pure and simply the Best Mature White Cheddar you have ever tasted!)
And in the Canals Rivers + Boats Magazine: a two page spread about Cheese Boat I and II.
Click on the pages to enlarge to read.
BTW the Smiling couple below is Geraldine and Mike Prescott, owners of Cheese Boat I and fully to blame for all of this Cheese Boat nonsense..(g) It's what good friends do, right?
Page 1
Page 2
Enjoy listening and reading!
Seasons Blessings
Shanti
(For those on Facebook Click HERE for the Frosty Cheshire photos)
They took the time out to be interviewed by Wireless and Ink.
Helen was interviewed on BBC Shropshire Radio..woohoo..
Kindly click HERE to 'have a listen'..
(its a bit choppy in places, but delightful to hear and the Little Black Bomber cheese that is mentioned is pure and simply the Best Mature White Cheddar you have ever tasted!)
And in the Canals Rivers + Boats Magazine: a two page spread about Cheese Boat I and II.
Click on the pages to enlarge to read.
BTW the Smiling couple below is Geraldine and Mike Prescott, owners of Cheese Boat I and fully to blame for all of this Cheese Boat nonsense..(g) It's what good friends do, right?
Page 1
Page 2
Enjoy listening and reading!
Seasons Blessings
Shanti
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Winter Comes To England!
ERII Email received: November 29, 2010
We had a Xmas fair to attend in Kings Sutton this weekend, but much snow forecasted over the next few days. So got ourselves down here, pronto. It has been very cold in Cheshire -10C that very f*****g cold on a metal boat. The pond has about two inches of ice on it now! The central heating has been keeping up well, just nice to get into nice warm house.
They have been having a hard time get water to the moorings. Brand new marina but the contractor screwed up and did not insulate the pipes properly. The managers left one tap on each section of moorings( one you tag several hoses together to reach each boat). But someone came along in the middle of the night and turned off the tap. Well guess what, frozen!!! So went through the whole process again and the good Samaritan came along again and turned the taps off, once more. They were at it again when we left.
TTFN David and Helen
For more UK Winter pics: click here.
Blessings of a warm snug home to all who read this.
We had a Xmas fair to attend in Kings Sutton this weekend, but much snow forecasted over the next few days. So got ourselves down here, pronto. It has been very cold in Cheshire -10C that very f*****g cold on a metal boat. The pond has about two inches of ice on it now! The central heating has been keeping up well, just nice to get into nice warm house.
They have been having a hard time get water to the moorings. Brand new marina but the contractor screwed up and did not insulate the pipes properly. The managers left one tap on each section of moorings( one you tag several hoses together to reach each boat). But someone came along in the middle of the night and turned off the tap. Well guess what, frozen!!! So went through the whole process again and the good Samaritan came along again and turned the taps off, once more. They were at it again when we left.TTFN David and Helen
For more UK Winter pics: click here.
Blessings of a warm snug home to all who read this.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Catching Up with More Photos from the ERII
Without further ado: two new links to David's Photographic Genius:
A Winter Hike to Stanage Edge
and
just in time for the Holiday Season (dust off your Dickens!)
Christmas At Chatsworth
Blessings of the Season
Shanti
A Winter Hike to Stanage Edge
and
just in time for the Holiday Season (dust off your Dickens!)
Christmas At Chatsworth
Blessings of the Season
Shanti
Monday, November 8, 2010
Cinque Terre Italy - Part 2!
From the ER II's Owners - email dated November 8/10
(photo of the Madonna di Reggio - D. Wanamaker (c) 2010
We are recently back from our second visit to the beautiful Cinque Terre
in Italy - we were there at the same time last year so we went back to
the lovely Vernazza again, and had days of really great hiking - we've
pretty much done all the trails now except for one sanctuary at the top
end of the Cinque Terre region. May have to go back to complete it one
day...
David's photos, as usual, are spectacular -
Click here to view the most recent Cinque Terre Slideshow.
Had a lovely season out on the canals, selling cheese and chutneys and
talking to lots and lots of interesting people. Our cruising season
starts at the end of March next year, so we will take these next couple
of months to complete all the (dozens of) small jobs we never got around
to on the boat before we headed out last March!
As well, we have some Christmas events to attend, although we will be
doing most of them in halls or pubs - definitely not the time of year we
want to be moving around the canals on our boat! We are cozy and warm
in a nice, new marina in beautiful Cheshire - 1/2 hour to the west is
Wales, 1/2 hour to the east is the Peak District. There will be lots of
hiking and exploring over this coming winter!
Hope everyone is keeping healthy and happy.
Cheers,
Helen & David
(photo of the Madonna di Reggio - D. Wanamaker (c) 2010We are recently back from our second visit to the beautiful Cinque Terre
in Italy - we were there at the same time last year so we went back to
the lovely Vernazza again, and had days of really great hiking - we've
pretty much done all the trails now except for one sanctuary at the top
end of the Cinque Terre region. May have to go back to complete it one
day...
David's photos, as usual, are spectacular -
Click here to view the most recent Cinque Terre Slideshow.
Had a lovely season out on the canals, selling cheese and chutneys and
talking to lots and lots of interesting people. Our cruising season
starts at the end of March next year, so we will take these next couple
of months to complete all the (dozens of) small jobs we never got around
to on the boat before we headed out last March!
As well, we have some Christmas events to attend, although we will be
doing most of them in halls or pubs - definitely not the time of year we
want to be moving around the canals on our boat! We are cozy and warm
in a nice, new marina in beautiful Cheshire - 1/2 hour to the west is
Wales, 1/2 hour to the east is the Peak District. There will be lots of
hiking and exploring over this coming winter!
Hope everyone is keeping healthy and happy.
Cheers,
Helen & David
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